PITTSBURGH -- All Pat Shurmur wanted to focus on in the final week of the regular season was the Browns preparation for their game Sunday against the Steelers.

He did not want to talk about what he knows is coming soon after the clock in Heinz Field reads 0:00 -- the decision on his job status.

CEO Joe Banner, speaking for owner Jimmy Haslam, promises to announce the fate of Shurmur and General Manager Tom Heckert "quickly." That could mean Monday or Wednesday, assuming Banner doesn't call a press conference on New Year's Day.

Through all the distractions, Shurmur and his assistants stayed focused on the Steelers.

Advertisement

"Listen, I get this," Shurmur said. "My concerns are for my team and making sure that we do all the right things during the game to give our guys the best chance to win. That's where I'm at.

"At some point after that, I'll begin to think about what goes on from there. No, I'm not worried about it."

The Browns were 10-22 in two season under Eric Mangini and he was fired by former Browns president Mike Holmgren. The Browns are 9-22 under Shurmur. He has to win with a quarterback, Thad Lewis, playing in his first NFL game, in a place where the Browns haven't won since 2003, just to match Mangini.

Shurmur did answer when asked what he is most proud of during the last two years, but even then he began by saying his focus is on the Steelers.

"I think we've made improvements -- some may say not fast enough -- but I think we've made improvements," Shurmur said. "I think we came into a less than ideal situation when we got here.

"Every situation is different and I'm proud of that. I'm proud of the work the guys I hired did in terms of inspiring the players to improve. It's a little different thought process when you're working with so many young ones. There are certain things you've got to keep hammering home that when you've got a veteran crew, you know you talk about other things. So these guys, I think, did an outstanding job of that.

"We haven't won enough football games and I know that's the way this things works, but in our situation I see improvement and I'll leave it at that. The rest of it, going in depth to all that, I think that's a discussion for after we play Pittsburgh."

The Browns are playing the Steelers without starting quarterback Brandon Weeden, backup Colt McCoy, starting running back Trent Richardson, starting right cornerback Sheldon Brown, starting safeties T.J. Ward and Usama Young and backup tight end Jordan Cameron. All are on the shelf with various injuries.

Last month the Steelers did not have starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger for the game in Cleveland. The Browns defense forced eight turnovers. Steelers quarterback Charlie Batch threw three interceptions when the Browns squeaked out a 20-14 victory.

Most of the Browns injuries are to the offense. Middle linebacker D'Qwell Jackson says it is up to the defense to carry the mail today.

"The way I look at it, Cleveland Browns defense has to outplay the Pittsburgh Steelers defense," Jackson said. "As long as we're on the field, we have to outplay them. Because right now they're first in total defense. They're always up there. That's a personal challenge for myself, we talked about it from within our room. It's a personal challenge regardless of what's happening throughout the game.

"We plan on it being a low (scoring) ballgame. To sweep them is something that hasn't been done since 1988. we can walk away from this season with something to brag about and to build off of going into next season."